The international student community now contributes over $1.6 billion to the local economy, and many educational institutions rely on the income from full-fee paying students to help provide quality education to all students, both international and domestic.

This group also generates demand for 10,000 full time equivalent jobs, with a host of businesses providing specialised services.

These include education agents that help overseas students find suitable education institutions and tourism businesses that cater to international students and their visiting families.

Accommodation providers like Global Experience – operating since 1999 – offer international students a range of accommodation options and support from a young, multicultural team.

International students are often looking for part-time work – they can actually work 40 hours per fortnight and as much as they want during their holidays. They provide an invaluable level of cross-cultural understanding both to local businesses and when they return home.

Students often act as informal ambassadors for Sydney as a centre for learning, research and innovation, and describe their time here as a period of personal and professional growth.

We offer wide-ranging programs to encourage and support this community – such as our unique ambassador program that helps a group of successful applicants build capacity through work experience, but also ensures we meet the needs of their community with initiatives that are relevant and engaging.

We’re currently developing a policy to formally support this important and growing area, so there’ll be more to come in the coming months.